Ex-Sen. Jeffords, whose party flip overturned Senate, dies

By DAVE GRAM The Associated Press

Posted: August 19, 2014 at 3:36 a.m.

Credit: AP
FILE - In this March 14, 2003, file photo, Sen. Jim Jeffords, I-Vt., center, laughs with Vermont Democratic Party Chairman Scudder Parker at the annual Democratic Party dinner in Montpelier, Vt. Jeffords, who in 2001 tipped control of the Senate when he quit the Republican Party to become an independent, died Monday, Aug. 18, 2014, in Washington. He was 80. (AP Photo/Toby Talbot, File)

MONTPELIER, Vt. -- Former Vermont U.S. Sen. James Jeffords, who in 2001 tipped control of the Senate when he quit the Republican Party to become an independent, died Monday. He was 80.